COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE

CHEHALIS TRIBE

COVID-19 PANDEMIC RESPONSE

Law enforcement’s role / 2

Keep K-12 kids learning / 3

Mental health support / 3

Wellness Center news / 4

Meeting community

needs as a team

Chehalis tribal staff rally to

deliver essential services

Because of the Covid-19

outbreak, the Chehalis

Tribe closed a majority of its

operations for two weeks on

Wednesday, March 18.

Both the Chehalis Tribal

Government and Lucky Eagle

Casino decided it would be in

the best interest of its employees

and general public to close

through March 31.

This decision was made prior

to Gov. Jay Inslee declaring a

statewide stay-at-home order

that went into place March 25.

Although the tribe was set to

reopen April 1, that date has

been adjusted.

The timeframe to continue

normal business is contingent

on the ongoing emergency.

The tribe will continue to keep

the community informed and

provide resources through

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

Volunteers needed: Contact

Lucy Hill at 360-709-1620

or email eocplanning@

chehalistribe.org to help out

in any capacity.

Public information call center:

360-570-5350

All emergencies: Call 911

essential services and a

Command Team established for

this incident.

Essential services remain

operating to provide for the

community. They include:

n Public Safety to keep the

community secure.

n Wellness Center for

everyone’s health.

n Facilities and Maintenance

to ensure buildings are clean and

sanitized.

n Information Technology

Casino takes swift action

Lucky Eagle serves as

hub for calls, supplies

As news of the Covid-19

pandemic began to escalate,

Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel

staff knew they would have to

quickly adapt and change their

routines. Plans for adjusted

opening hours soon turned into

plans for an absolute closure on

March 18.

Management knew the

difficult part was only just

beginning. Despite never

having been closed for this

length of time, Lucky Eagle is

no stranger to emergencies. The

main part of the reservation

is located in an area prone to

severe flooding. Planning and

preparation allowed the casino

to take an emergency flood

plan and quickly adapt it to the

ongoing virus outbreak.

While parking lots are

empty on the outside, the

casino remains busy with

activity and is staffed 24

hours a day as a vital hub in

the ongoing tribal emergency

See CASINO, page 3

Operations team members take action during the Covid-19 pandemic.

keeps everyone connected by

providing channels of electronic

communication.

n End of the Trail

convenience stores remain open

to provide supplies.

The tribe has designated a

team to assist our community

during this pandemic.

The team is responsible for

logistics, planning, operations,

safety, health and public

information. With the help of

Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel, the

Command Team has established

a Center for those who need

essential supplies for their

household.

The planning and logistics

teams work together to respond

to requests and get supplies to

individuals in the safest and

fastest way possible.

This task is difficult with

social distancing, but the teams

have collaborated and formed

a system to best serve those in

need.

See TEAMWORK, page 2

Message from chairman

Chehalis tribal members

and community,

First off, I hope that

everybody is doing as well

as they can be. Please know

that we are holding the entire

community in our prayers. I am

very pleased to announce that

there have been zero confirmed

cases of the Covid-19 virus on

the Chehalis Reservation.

There is no doubt we are in

difficult and trying times. The

Covid-19 pandemic is here and

will have lasting effects. As we

look forward, this might be the

beginning of

a new normal.

We will adapt

and thrive, but

right now, we

will need to get

through some

difficult days.

Harry

I cannot

Pickernell Sr.

stress enough

that we continue to wash our

hands, sanitize high-touch

areas at home and practice

social distancing.

See CHAIRMAN, page 2

2

Law enforcement help

Chehalis tribal community,

Law enforcement’s primary

role during this Covid-19

emergency is to help educate

people about how to comply

with suggestions

or orders to stay

at home. We are

not being asked

to detain, arrest

or ticket for

compliance.

We view our

role more as one Chief

of education.

Kelly Edwards

Educating

residents on how to keep

themselves safe and their

families safe. And most

importantly, how to keep the rest

of the community safe, especially

our vulnerable populations.

n We understand some

people need to carry out

essential services such as:

1. Safety and security

2. Food, water, shelter

3. Health and medical

TEAMWORK

From page 1

The operations team, which

is headed by Facilities and

Maintenance staff, has been

tasked with various roles to

provide support and keep

buildings clean and keep people

healthy.

They do so by conducting

day-to-day sanitation, assisting

with supply deliveries and

maintaining infrastructure

control for the Chehalis Tribe

during this shutdown.

Both the wastewater and

water treatment departments

are running and tests are being

completed in accordance with

EPA standards.

The solid waste department

is running on limited hours and

staff. This includes elder garbage

pickup on Tuesdays and Fridays

as well as the tribal dump

running on a limited schedule

from noon-4:30 p.m. Tuesday

through Saturday.

The Chehalis Tribe has

implemented a public

information call center

to provide information to

community members during this

Covid-19 emergency event.

The number to call is 360570-5350.

4. Energy (power and fuel)

5. Communications

6. Transportation

n Our community members

have shown they understand

the severity of the situation and

are doing all they can already to

keep themselves, families and

neighbors safe and healthy.

n When officers encounter

people not complying with

an order, we will remind

them, as appropriate, of the

recommendation and/or

restrictions.

n Law enforcement has no

desire to make arrests or take

anybody to jail for violations.

n Rumors of individuals or

businesses needing “passes” or

“licenses” to conduct essential

services are not true.

Rest assured, we will continue

to serve you and our community

every minute of every day, and

we will always enforce the laws

that keep people safe.

Chief Kelly Edwards

This important

communications link will

help community members

stay informed. It is staffed

by employees at Lucky Eagle

Casino under the direction of

the Chehalis Tribe Emergency

Operations Center.

Callers can obtain

information on hours of

operation for essential services

such as the Wellness Center,

Tribal Dump and End of the

Trail stores.

Any basic questions about

Covid-19 and emergency

preparedness can also be

directed to the call center.

The tribe is available to

provide basic necessities (food,

cleaning supplies and hygiene

items) on a limited basis to

any tribal member who meets

the criteria for a confirmed or

probable case of Covid-19 and

is quarantined in his or her

home.

For those in this category,

please contact the call center

to request assistance. Your

request will be forwarded to the

Emergency Operations staff to

further assist you.

This assistance is available

only to tribal members that live

on the reservation or within a

30-mile radius.

CHAIRMAN

From page 1

Stay at home

If we do not need to leave

the house, I am asking that we

stay put as much as we can.

When we do need to go out,

consolidate trips. While at the

grocery store, we also can stop

to get gas and medications in a

single trip.

In our home, the best thing

we can do is to keep surfaces

clean with disinfectant. Wipe

down high-touch surfaces such

as countertops, door knobs,

refrigerator handle, phones

and the television remote.

Social distancing is defined

as staying 6 feet apart. It is

the best defense for our own

personal health and the health

of our loved ones. It also will

slow the spread of the virus.

What is the tribe doing?

Difficult decisions have been

made and implemented. As

you are aware, we temporarily

closed the Tribal Government,

Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel,

Great Wolf Lodge and most of

our enterprises. This decision

was made for one reason – to

protect our community by

limiting exposure of the virus

on the reservation.

The gas stations and

convenience stores remain

open so that we have access to

gas and basic supplies. Please

know that we have taken extra

measures to ensure the safety

of both our staff and customers

during this crisis. This includes

extra sanitizing, gloves and

masks when requested. Rest

assured that no staff member

will be required to work if he or

she is feeling ill or unsafe.

The Wellness Center,

Pharmacy and Public Safety

will stay open to provide

services throughout this period.

Additionally, other limited

tribal services will work on an

emergency basis to support

the Covid-19 response. The

Wellness Center is prioritizing

potential cases and patients.

The criteria for testing is

that you need to be showing

symptoms. There is no need to

be tested if you are feeling fine.

However, if you are having

symptoms that include fever,

dry cough, fatigue, aches, and

in extreme cases, difficulty

breathing, please call the

Wellness Center for testing and

treatment plans.

We have assembled a

dedicated incident command

team that is doing everything

possible to ensure that our

community is safe, healthy and

getting emergency supplies.

We also are ensuring elders

receive meals. All elders should

have received a care package

with basic food supplies

including boxes of cereal, eggs,

bread, cheese and bottled

water. More is on the way.

We have been coordinating

with Oakville School District to

be sure children are being fed.

Any of our children attending

Oakville School District should

have received a Chromebook

along with curriculum

objectives.

We can never thank our

volunteers enough for their

tireless efforts. Without our

volunteers, we would not be

able to provide these services.

This includes meal deliveries,

care package deliveries,

garbage pickup and everything

else our great volunteers have

been doing since day one of

this crisis.

Thank you very much. I

thank you today and I thank

you every day for your selfless

service to our tribal members

and our community.

In closing, stay home as

much as possible. This is a

time to keep your family safe.

While you have your children

near, this time allows us to

teach new skills.

In addition to reading,

writing and arithmetic, we can

keep them busy learning skills

our parents taught us. We can

show future generations how

to change a tire or the oil in our

car, track finances or cook a

family favorite recipe (frybread,

hamburger stew). Use this time

to create family trees, weave a

basket, do bead work or learn

our Chehalis language.

As we continue down this

path, we will come out of this

event stronger together.

Thank you for helping

us keep everyone in our

community safe.

Our actions will help us

get back to normal operations

as soon as possible. ​Let us all

continue to use our bells, bibles

and drums to pray for the

safety of our members and our

community.

Thank you and god bless.

Harry Pickernell Sr.,

Chehalis Tribe Chairman

3

Ensure kids learn and stay engaged

To help prevent the spread

of Covid-19, all schools are shut

down until at least April 24.

Here are fabulous online

resources to keep young minds

fresh during the long weeks

ahead:

n Scholastic Learning

at Home (scholastic.com):

Educational materials for

students that center around a

concept of the day. Included

are videos, books and ideas

to discuss. Pre-K to grades

6-9. Subjects include English

language arts, STEM, science,

social studies and socialemotional learning.

n Newsela.com: For K-12.

Learn how otters play a vital

role in ecology of rivers or why

baby animals have pink ears.

Older students can find a wealth

of information on this site.

STEAM activities, social studies,

government, current events,

history, English language arts,

research projects, culture, math

and recipes. Parents can learn

what kids should know about

Covid-19. Read about Joy Harjo,

the first Native American to

be named a U.S. poet laureate.

And discover why it’s crucial for

CHEHALIS K-12 PARENTS

If your child needs academic

help, send your email or phone

number to chehalistribek12@

gmail.com. You will be sent an

invite for a Google chatroom

that you can access from

9 a.m.-4 p.m. weekdays for

academic questions.

FUN DIY IDEAS

For simple tips to keep little

kids entertained at home, go

to chehalistribe.org.

Native Americans to be counted

in the U.S. census.

n opb.pbslearningmedia.

org: Click on “Learning at

home? Start with our PreK12 Resources for Emergency

Closings.” Inspire pre-K through

high school students with

videos, games and activities. A

wealth of topics, including world

languages, health, engineering,

social studies and math.

n TedEd (https://ed.ted.

com): Discover big and little

ideas that appeal to curious

types. Animations and talks

are designed to fire up young

minds. Video-based lessons are

organized by age and subject.

Learn the surprising reason our

muscles get tired and whether a

black hole can be destroyed!

n National Geographic for

Kids (kids.nationalgeographic.

com): Explore the wonders of

our world in an interactive way.

Enjoy cool quizzes, fun games

and silly fill-ins.

n Cosmic Kids Yoga

(cosmickids.com): Vibrant and

easy-to-follow routines range

from relaxed to energizing.

Follow “Be the Pond” for

mindfulness or “Squish the Fish”

for an active session.

n GoNoodle (gonoodle.com):

Movement and mindfulness

videos created by childdevelopment experts. Get good

energy flowing with videos and

downloadable activities.

n Out-there tales (https://

storytimefromspace.com): Watch

the Earth spin in the background

as an astronaut reads to you from

space. How cool is that? Check

out the story “Ada Lace, Take Me

to Your Leader.”

n Storyline Online

(storylineonline.net): Celebrities

read a range of fantastic

books geared toward K-4th

grade. Watch Kristen Bell

bring “Quackenstein Hatches

a Family” to life, Rose Byrne

deliver Beatrix Potter’s famous

“The Tale of Peter Rabbit” and

Reid Scott present William

Steig’s “Sylvester and the Magic

Pebble.”

n Brains On (brainson.org):

Great background listening on

interesting educational topics

such as birdsongs, secrets of the

spectacular spacesuit and how

ants and spiders walk on walls.

n Broaden your horizons

with virtual zoo, aquarium,

theme park and museum tours.

A massive list is available at

goodhousekeeping.com/life/

travel/a31784720/best-virtualtours. Explore 360-degree tours

of every exhibit the Smithsonian

National Museum of Natural

History offers. Or relax with

real-time views of the adorable

residents of Seattle Aquarium.

n Doodle time: Search for

“Art For Kids Hub” on YouTube.

Youth can stretch their minds

with a few swipes of a pencil.

Art lessons include drawing,

painting and even origami.

CASINO

From page 1

Take good care of yourself

response effort. Employees are

needed for food preparation,

logistics, communications and

maintenance.

The kitchen unit is still

active, providing three meals

daily to employees serving

emergency efforts and

delivering up to 100 elder

meals per day.

The casino is one of the

major storehouses of basic

supplies during the course of

the crisis, using established

contacts with vendors to keep

inventory rolling in and stay

stocked up on basic hygiene and

emergency inventory. These are

dispensed to appropriate tribal

agencies as needed.

One of the most important

roles the casino has played

during all of this is setting up

a call center to serve as the

emergency point of contact for

community members who have

questions about the crisis.

Looking forward, staff

It’s a tough time for all of us.

Staying cooped up at home has

its benefits and setbacks. Be kind

to yourself as much as possible.

Social distancing can be

difficult. There are many ways

to connect with others such as

video chat, texting or picture

messaging. Daily check-ins help

to ease the mind and fill our days

with joy and laughter.

Taking care of mental health

is important right now. It’s

crucial to build up resilience,

enhance your immune system

and ultimately enhance the

health of the community.

Activities you can do to stay

busy at home:

1. Journaling

2. Enjoy a hot cup of tea.

3. Do stretching or dancing!

4. Practice slow, deep

breathing.

5. Take a short walk around

the neighborhood if possible.

6. Go out for a walk along

Lucky Eagle Casino & Hotel

food and beverage staff provide

meals for elders and workers.

also keep in mind plans for

a reopening when officials

declare it safe. Casino

employees who asked to stay

home during the emergency

are regularly updated on the

situation. Lucky Eagle Casino

& Hotel is ready to help keep

the Chehalis tribal community

safe and supplied.

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

For confidential support 24

hours a day, 7 days a week,

call 800-273-8255 (TALK),

visit the National Suicide

Prevention Lifeline Crisis Chat

webpage or text the Crisis Text

Line (text START to 741741

from anywhere in the United

States) and a trained crisis

counselor will respond quickly.

the forest trails or along the

river, harvest nettles and fiddler

ferns for fresh greens for meals

and spruce tip tea to boost your

vitamin C.

7. Spruce up your yards and

flower bed or get a garden ready

for spring planting.

8. Say positive affirmations

out loud, “I will get through

this,” “This is for protection of

health,” and “I am helping my

community by staying home. ”

chehalistribe.org © copyright 2020

USDA FOOD PROGRAM

9:45 A.M.-1:30 P.M. APRIL 17, CHEHALIS

TRIBAL COMMUNITY CENTER

South Puget Intertribal Planning Agency’s program

offers an assortment of food to fill your freezer,

refrigerator and cupboards. SIGN UP: Call Debra

Shortman at 360-709-1689 or 360-438-4216

4

CTWC issues guidelines to slow the spread of virus

Chehalis Tribal Wellness

Center (CTWC) staff are

continuing to work with the

tribe’s emergency response team

and our local, state and national

public health offices on Covid-19

efforts.

We want to emphasize that

every community member has

a very important role in slowing

the spread of Covid-19 for the

safety of you and your family.

Clinics in general, including

CTWC, unfortunately do not

have effective treatments for

Covid-19. CTWC has a very

limited supply of tests despite

regularly asking for more. We

can’t test everyone we would

otherwise want to. This is why it

is important to continue simple

measures to keep yourself and

others healthy.

Most helpful efforts for

community safety are health

measures such as washing hands

frequently, staying at home when

sick and covering your cough

or sneeze with your elbow or a

tissue and washing hands.

If you are at high risk (elders,

pregnant women and those who

have other health problems

such as heart disease, lung

disease, diabetes or cancer)

these measures help protect you.

If you are at lower risk (young

people with no health problems),

remember being young does not

rule out serious illness. These

efforts are still important to

protect you and your loved ones.

If you do NOT HAVE

a fever, cough or other

respiratory symptoms:

Wash your hands well, use

hand sanitizer, don’t touch your

face, stay at home, keep social

distancing practices, plan trips

out to make the fewest trips

possible and clean surfaces.

WHAT IS THE CLINIC

DOING FOR ME?

Employees screen

patients before they enter

the Wellness Center, a

precaution to help stop

the spread of Covid-19.

Keep in mind the virus can

linger in the air for hours and

remain on surfaces for days.

If you HAVE or develop

a fever, cough or other

respiratory symptoms:

If you don’t have danger signs

(such as worsening shortness

of breath or other signs your

condition is getting worse) and

are not in the high-risk group or

a first responder, the safest thing

is for you to do all of the above

plus stay at home, wear a mask

over your mouth and nose, keep

surfaces clean and stay away

from other people.

Treat any respiratory

symptoms like they are Covid-19

and don’t spread it. Acting

like your symptoms are from

Covid-19 is recommended by

public health experts in part

because we don’t have enough

tests to test everyone and some

people will have Covid-19

without knowing it (it can look

like a regular cold or flu or no

symptoms at all).

Do everything you can to not

spread whatever you have to

others and keep doing this until

your symptoms are gone and you

are feeling back to normal. This

is not easy, but it is important for

the safety of your loved ones.

We are only seeing urgent

care patients for in-person visits,

but we will update you when this

changes. At the clinic, anyone

with fever or possible virus

symptoms is encouraged to call

for advice and not go into the

clinic building to reduce spread

to others. Anyone who needs

to come in and has respiratory

symptoms (cough, runny nose,

fever, etc.) will be seen in his

or her car to reduce the risk of

spread to community members.

Stay safe and let’s continue to

pull together.

Sincerely,

The Chehalis Tribal

Wellness Center

Since March 18, the Wellness

Center has put new practices

into place to keep you safe:

n When you arrive for a visit,

a staff member greets you

at the door to ask screening

questions.

n All patients with respiratory

symptoms, recent travel or

who might have had close

contact with a known patient

with Covid-19 is asked to

remain in their vehicles for

a more thorough evaluation.

Please pull up to the

appropriate side of the tent.

n We have asked that all

patients who wish to be seen

call first to limit your possible

exposure to Covid-19 and

to give us an opportunity to

manage concerns from home

if possible.

n Hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

n The pharmacy is filling 90day refills for any medication

they can. A delivery option is

available for those at high-risk

or who are self-quarantining.

n We will notify you of any

changes.

MEDICAL CONCERNS

Call the center at 360-2735504. If you are having a

medical or life-threatening

emergency, call 911.

ONLINE

For advice on cleaning and

disinfecting your home

and how to safely care for

a loved with Covid-19, go to

chehalistribe.org.